Shakespearean scripts for actors.

Henry V by The Upstart Crow Boulder, CO, 2013

The texts:

Armado and Moth Editions of Shakespeare’s plays are intended for use as scripts by actors and directors. They differ from virtually all other editions in that they retain the punctuation and lineation of the original editions. However, unlike editions designed for the scholar, they modernize spelling and orthographic conventions. They are intended to give the actor Shakespeare’s texts in the most readable and actable format possible.

Lineation & Punctuation:

Shakespeare is regarded as perhaps the greatest poet ever. But it also seems that he is regarded as a poet who was terrible at writing in verse. Every modern edition of his plays contains hundreds of "corrections" to the way he set line endings and punctuation in his plays. But Shakespeare's lineation and punctuation contain invaluable hints for the actor speaking his lines. We have restored the form of the verse he wrote.

Glossaries:

Every script contains an extensive glossary. Yes, modern editions contain glossaries, but they almost never give pronunciations. The reader does not need to know how words or the names of characters or persons mentioned in the plays are pronounced, but, obviously, the actor does. And when a character speaks the name of a historical, literary, or mythological figure is he doing it to support or to ironically reject the the evident meaning of the line he is speaking? If he speaks of a coin or some amount of money is it a fortune or is it small change? What is the difference between "you" and "thou" and what does it mean when the character deliberately (or ignorantly) uses the wrong form? And what do common words like "from," "doubt," "therefore," and "sex" mean in Shakespeare?